The present invention relates to an extendable base and support extension for transportable lift.
Transportable lifts, per se, are well known. Applicant""s Assignee owns U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,911,408 and 5,975,495, both to Berends et al. and each covering aspects of a transportable lift. FIGS. 1-3 depict details of a transportable lift such as is taught in the Berends et al. Patents. With reference to FIGS. 1-3, it is seen that the lift is generally designated by the reference numeral 1 and includes a base 4, a stand 2 and a support 6, movable up and down along the stand 2. The base 4 includes forwardly extending legs 14 and 15, each of which has a wheel 8 at its end remote from the stand 2.
The support 6 consists of forks 16 and 17 which have inclined surfaces 18 and 19, respectively, that are designed to cooperate to engage the undersurfaces of a vehicle tire to facilitate, in conjunction with other transportable lifts operated in tandem, lifting of a vehicle off a ground surface.
As particularly seen in FIG. 1, the transportable lift 1 includes transport wheels 7 as well as a carriage 11 arranged in the stand and provided with guide wheels 12. A cylinder 10 is provided in the stand 2 to facilitate upward movement of the carriage 11. The top of the stand has a cover 3 that closes off that section of the stand 2. A handle 5 is provided for the user which permits steering and dragging the lift during transport. A control 9 is provided which, as is known to those skilled in the art, permits coordination of movements of several transportable lifts arranged with their supports under the respective tires of a vehicle to be lifted.
As the transportable lift 1 is used, it is rolled up to the side of a vehicle adjacent a tire thereof and is rolled forward until the forks 16 and 17 underlie front and rear portions of a vehicle tire. Other transportable lifts are moved, in similar fashion, to positions wherein the forks thereof underlie the other tires of the vehicle. In a coordinated fashion, in a manner well known to those skilled in the art, all of the transportable lifts, for example, four of them, are simultaneously activated to lift the vehicle in a level fashion above the ground surface where the transportable lifts are positioned.
The transportable lift 1 in accordance with the teachings of the prior art operates effectively in situations where the vehicle tires are located with their outer surfaces closely adjacent surfaces of adjacent vehicle fenders. However, where the outer surfaces of vehicle tires are significantly recessed behind vehicle fenders, as shown in FIG. 8, the transportable lift 1 cannot effectively lift the vehicle. This is because before the forks 16 and 17 thereof can engage under the vehicle tires, the stand 2 engages the outer surfaces of the vehicle fender, thereby preventing further forward motion of the base 4. Under such circumstances, it is sometimes possible to move the forks 16 and 17 so that they go partially under the vehicle tires. However, such a scenario presents significant safety concerns, as a risk arises that the vehicle could topple off the lifts, thereby causing injury and possible death.
FIG. 8 schematically depicts the scenario described above. As shown in FIG. 8, the transportable lift 1 has a fork 16 and a stand 2. The fork 16 is seen partially under the tire 20 but the stand 2 is engaging the outer edge of the fender 21, thereby precluding the lift 1 from moving further in the right-hand direction of FIG. 8. In this scenario, it should be clear that the fork 16 is not sufficiently under the tire 20 to facilitate safe lifting.
As such, a need has developed for a transportable lift that can safely lift a vehicle where the outer surfaces of the tires thereof are adjacent the fenders and which also may be used in a scenario such as is depicted in FIG. 8 wherein the tires are significantly recessed behind the fenders. It is with this latter scenario in mind that the present invention was developed.
The present invention relates to an extendable base and support extension for transportable lift. The present invention includes the following interrelated objects, aspects and features:
1. In a first aspect, many of the features of the transportable lift illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 are included in the present invention including the stand, the support with its forks, and the operating mechanism therefor.
2. A combination of features has been added to the lift illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 to improve upon it and solve the problems set forth in the BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION hereinabove.
3. A first modification involves the legs of the base. To improve the legs, they have been made hollow with leg extension means comprising leg extensions allowing the effective length of each leg of the base to be increased. In a second aspect, fork extension means comprising removable fork extenders are provided that may be mounted over the outer surfaces of the forks to extend their effective lengths.
4. As should be understood, fork extenders alone will not solve the problems described above because if fork extenders alone were used, the legs of the base would not be sufficiently long enough to prevent the lift from toppling over toward the vehicle that is being lifted. The combination of base leg extensions and fork extenders solves the problems set forth hereinabove and provides a transportable lift with the versatility necessary to accommodate to any fender-tire configuration combination.
5. In accordance with the teachings of the present invention, when the legs of the base are extended, the distal ends of the extensions of the legs have wheels thereon so that the entirety of the lift is supported on the wheels at the end of the extensions and the wheels behind the stand.
As such, it is a first object of the present invention to provide an extendable base and support extension for transportable lift.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide such a device wherein the forks of the support are provided with removable extenders.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide such a device wherein the legs of the base are extendable through a telescoping mechanism.
It is a yet further object of the present invention to provide such a device wherein the extensions on the base legs have wheels on the ends thereof remote from the stand.